Tea Party Activist: Give States More Power

A constitutional amendment should be passed to give states the power to repeal acts of Congress, says Marianne Moran, executive director of The Tea Party in Action.

“It’s important to restore the balance of power between the states and federal government,” Moran tells Newsmax.TV.

“The states can make Congress submit to the states for ratification a constitutional amendment giving two-thirds of states the power to repeal anything Congress does.”

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That would restore the Constitution, says Moran, whose tea party organization is based in Florida.

“Our Constitution has been ignored. The 10th Amendment [protecting states’ rights] is useless.” The Supreme Court’s bad decisions over the past 50-plus years have rendered it impotent, she says.

States would be able to use the power to repeal the healthcare reform law, which she says amounts to an unfunded mandate.

“We’re shackled now,” says Moran, who adds that no amount of fiscal discipline can save states from the flood of federal debt coming their way from unconstitutional mandates such as Obamacare.

“We need the authority back that the founders originally wanted,” she says. “We can do that by forcing Congress to give us the repeal amendment.”

Moran also wants to repeal the 17th Amendment, which ushered in direct election of senators. Instead, the country should go back to the election method used before the amendment was adopted in 1913, with state legislatures electing senators, she contends.

“We need to restore the balance of power that the founders originally intended for us to have,” she says.

The tea party’s strength is obvious, Moran says: “We believe in fiscal responsibility, limited government and free governments. Unfortunately the Republican establishment still wants to play their chess game, and they don’t get it.

“We the people want to have our feet on the neck of our legislators. We will only vote for people who are standing with our core principles and values. The silent majority/sleeping giant has awoken. It is time for both the Republican and Democratic establishments to realize that.”